FAFSA FAQs

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Filing the FAFSA is the first step in applying for financial aid and is a requirement for students who plan to pay for education after high school with the help of federal, state, or institutional aid such as grants, scholarships, work-study, and loans. You can complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA anytime on or after October 1, 2022. Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free – be sure to apply at FAFSA.gov.

Check with all schools you are applying to so you can determine their deadlines. Deadlines to apply for certain types of federal and institutional financial aid vary by school, and many have early deadlines.

To be considered for a Maine State Grant, you must file the FAFSA by May 1, 2023.

Regardless of deadlines, it is best to file the FAFSA as soon as possible after October 1. The earlier you apply, the more financial aid you may be eligible to receive.

The FSA ID is a Federal Student Aid username and password that you will need to access Federal Student Aid websites, including FAFSA.gov. Your FSA ID is also needed to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) and to sign your FAFSA electronically. If parent information is required on your FAFSA, one parent will also need to create his or her own FSA ID to electronically sign your FAFSA. To create an FSA ID, go to StudentAid.gov and click on “Create Account.” Be sure that you (and your parents, if applicable) have access to your email and/or can receive a text on your mobile phone when creating your FSA ID. In order to create an FSA ID, you must be able to verify that you have access to either your email or mobile phone.

We strongly recommend that you (and one parent if parent information is required on your FAFSA) create an FSA ID prior to completing the FAFSA. Creating your FSA ID ahead of time will make FAFSA completion quicker and easier! You can create an FSA ID now at StudentAid.gov.

Keep track of your FSA ID information using FAME’s FSA ID Information Tracking Sheet.

Placing a credit freeze on your credit report will have no impact on completing the FAFSA or receiving federal grants, federal work-study, or Federal Direct Loans (as these loans are not credit-based loans). However, Federal Grad PLUS and Federal Parent PLUS loans are credit-based and will be impacted by a credit freeze.

Yes. Because eligibility for federal student aid does not carry over from one year to the next, you need to fill out the FAFSA each year you are a student.

Your eligibility for financial aid can differ from year to year for various reasons, including your family’s financial situation and the number of family members enrolled in college.

On FAME’s website! Learn about financial aid basics, comparing financial aid offers from different schools, borrowing to pay for college, and more. Use FAME’s Scholarship Search to find scholarships for Maine students. FAME’s PAY: Tips to Afford Higher Education booklet is also available for download.

If your biological or adoptive parents live together, regardless of marital status or gender, answer the questions about both of them.

If your biological or adoptive parents are divorced or separated, answer the questions about the parent you lived with most during the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA (it does not matter who claimed you on their tax return). If you have lived with both parents exactly equally, answer the questions about the parent who has provided you the most financial support during the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA. If your parent is remarried as of the date you file the FAFSA, answer the questions about your parent and your stepparent.

If one of your parents is deceased, answer the questions about the surviving parent. If that parent is remarried as of the date you file the FAFSA, answer questions about your parent and your stepparent.

If you live with a foster parent, legal guardian, grandparent, or other relative, they are not considered a parent for the purposes of filing the FAFSA unless that person has legally adopted you. Students in these situations should contact their high school counselor, college financial aid office, or FAME to discuss their situation further and obtain guidance to help them complete their FAFSA.

If you don’t meet the criteria to be considered an independent student, parent information is needed on your FAFSA.

However, if the situation with your parents is complicated or you do not have contact with either parent, providing information may be difficult or impossible. Consider the following to determine your next steps.

If your high school considers you a homeless student as described in the McKinney Vento Act, you can file the FAFSA as an independent student (no parent information will be needed). You will need to document your situation with the financial aid office. Your high school guidance office can provide you the documentation needed. Please keep original copies of this documentation and only give the financial aid office a copy.

If you are not considered a homeless student by your high school, but do not live with your parent and cannot provide parent information, contact the financial aid office or FAME to discuss your options and determine how to apply for financial aid.

If your parent doesn’t have a social security number, you are still eligible to file the FAFSA. In the parent section, have your parent list his or her social security number as 000-00-0000. Your parent should not list his or her taxpayer identification number in that field.

Additionally, if your parent doesn’t have a social security number, he or she won’t be able to create an FSA ID and therefore won’t be able to sign your FAFSA electronically. Instead, select the option to print a signature page on the “Sign and Submit” page of the FAFSA. Print the page, have your parent sign it, and then mail it to the address indicated on the form so that your FAFSA can be processed.

If your parents file a tax return outside the U.S., convert the amounts on the foreign tax return into U.S. dollars and manually enter the information on the FAFSA.

When a student selects “homeschooled” as their high school completion status, the high school question is automatically skipped and not required on the FAFSA.

Start by listing the colleges and universities with the earliest financial aid deadlines. Wait until the FAFSA is processed (usually about three days) and then log back into the FAFSA at FAFSA.gov and click on “Update Schools.” Once in the FAFSA, go to the School Selection section, delete the needed number of schools, and add the schools that weren’t listed originally. The order in which schools are listed does not matter or impact financial aid eligibility. Once the new schools have been added, submit the FAFSA.

Use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons on the bottom of your FAFSA. DO NOT use your browser’s back and forward arrows at the top left of your screen.

Use your “tab” key to move from one question to the next, or use your mouse to left-click into an answer field. DO NOT use your “enter” key.

Your FSA ID allows you access to Federal Student Aid (FSA) websites, including FAFSA.gov. Your FSA ID is also needed to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) and to sign your FAFSA electronically. You will continue to use your FSA ID in the future.

Your Save Key (a combination of 4 to 8 characters that you create) is a temporary feature that allows you to go back to work on a saved FAFSA that you have not yet submitted.

Yes. Use your Save Key to get back into your saved FAFSA.

The 2023-2024 FAFSA requires income information from the 2021 tax year.

If possible, use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) within the FAFSA to transfer 2021 income and tax information from the IRS into the FAFSA.

Having your 2021 federal tax return(s) and all applicable schedules in front of you will make it easier to use the IRS DRT. When using the IRS DRT, income and tax information will not be displayed. Instead, selected fields will update to say, “Transferred from the IRS.” The schools you list on your FAFSA will be able to see the transferred tax and income information, which will reflect the information on your tax return(s).

Using the IRS DRT is best as it updates the FAFSA and verifies that the information is from the IRS all in one step. However, there are a few items that do not transfer when using the IRS DRT, so be sure to have your 2021 federal tax return(s) and applicable schedules in front of you.

Yes, even though the current income is less, you will still provide 2021 income information on the FAFSA. But, after you file your FAFSA, you will still want to follow up with the financial aid office at any school you are applying to attend to let them know about the change in income and discuss a financial aid appeal.

If you work, but do not file taxes, use your W-2 form(s) to list income earned from work (salary, tips, and wages).

The FAFSA includes a section for you to report your untaxed income. Do not include student aid, welfare payments (TANF), social security benefits, Supplemental Security Income, Workforce Investment Act educational benefits, earned income, additional child tax credits, military housing or military housing allowance, combat pay, flexible spending arrangement benefits, foreign income exclusion, or credit for federal tax on special fuels.

Yes, include siblings who are counted in the FAFSA “household” question and who are enrolled at least half time in a degree or certificate program. DO NOT include your parents, even if they are enrolled in school.

Assets that must be reported include your current total balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts; college investing accounts; net worth of investments; real estate such as rental property, land, and summer homes.

Assets that are NOT reported include the value of your retirement accounts, the home you live in, your family farm or family business (if there are fewer than 100 full-time employees), personal possessions, pensions, and whole life insurance.

FAME customer service is available to answer your FAFSA-filing questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can call FAME at 1-800-228-3734. You can also email a question to Education@FAMEmaine.com. Emails are answered during business hours. Additionally, we now offer individualized Zoom meetings. To schedule a session with one of our financial aid experts, click here. Starting again in October 2022, we will offer FAFSA Help Sessions. For a list of sessions, visit FAME’s FAFSA Help events page. 

 Help is also available at FAFSA.gov. 

• The help button at the top of each page will redirect you to a list of searchable questions, provide you with information on accessing a FAFSA specialist via live online chat, and provide FAFSA’s email address. If you prefer to speak with someone directly, FAFSA’s toll-free number is 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). 
• The help button is also located next to each question and provides more information about how to answer that question. 

Once your FAFSA has been processed (usually about three days), log back into the FAFSA at FAFSA.gov and click on “Edit FAFSA Form.” You can then fix your mistake and resubmit your FAFSA. The updated information will be sent to all the schools listed on the FAFSA.

Do not update your FAFSA to reflect changes that have occurred after the FAFSA was filed. Instead, discuss changes (i.e., changes in income or marital status, but not assets as assets will always reflect that value as of the day the FAFSA was filed) with the financial aid office at your school.

Verification is when the school asks you to verify some of the information you provided on your FAFSA by providing additional documentation and/or by completing a verification form. It DOES NOT mean you did anything wrong! Be sure to provide the requested information to the school as soon as possible.

Typically, you won’t receive a financial aid offer until you have completed the financial aid application process and have been admitted to the school. Schools have different schedules for when they send financial aid offers.

There is no standard format for financial aid offers, making it difficult to compare offers from different schools. We recommend using FAME’s Comparing Costs & Financial Aid Offers Worksheet to help you understand your offers and get an “apples to apples” comparison.

Check out FAME’s Scholarship Search to research scholarships that might be available to you.

Schools aren’t always able to meet the full financial need of every student. Start by reviewing your expenses to see if there are ways to reduce your costs. If your financial aid offer is still not enough, consider these options that can be found in the “When the Financial Aid Offer Isn’t Enough” section.